Lions overcome Burntwood

From the kick-off, Burntwood's forwards tried to get their run going, but Burton worked well to keep play initially in the Burntwood half.
A Burntwood kick found Adam Cooke, who charged forward, evading several tackles before being brought down. Burton dominated the ruck, releasing ball to Champney, whose powerful run was ended by a Burntwood trip. Burton elected to run the ball, and a series of well-executed passes again found Adam Cook, who was well tackled by the Burntwood forwards.
Turnover ball from the ruck allowed Burntwood to break forward, and it was left to Nathan Stokes to make the first of several important tackles, preventing a likely try.
A series of 'interesting' penalty decisions saw Burntwood back Burton up to their 10 metre line. Despite winning the lineout, a mishandled pass allowed Burntwood to score a well-executed try, which was not converted.
Burton raised their tempo from the re-start, with Burntwood having to ground the ball behind their own posts for a Burton scrum. Sam Wardega picked and ran, gaining ground, and then the forwards let the ball out well. The back line kept their heads and spun the ball well to Lewis Slack, who went over. The ball was judged to have been held up, and from the scrum, Burton again looked like scoring when Sam Jordan-Turner's well-timed pass was taken by Nathan, who just couldn't keep his balance, and was tackled. Fine rucking again secured possession, and Callum Sandeman was denied his try - once again judged held up.
Time and again, Burton were threatening the Burntwood line, but were kept out by quick defensive play. Burntwood looked to have weathered the storm when they were able to kick the ball clear following a penalty.
Burton were not ready to let their chances slip away, however, and attacked the Burntwood lineout strongly, gaining a vital turnover. Quick ball saw passes working across the back line. Turner drew two would-be tacklers, then passed to Sandeman who made a slicing run forward before passing to Ross Burrows. As the gap closed in front of him, Ross looked as if he would attempt to storm through. His last second pass to Stokes left the Burntwood wing flat-footed, and Stokes sprinted across the line for a fine try to level the scores at five all.

The next few minutes saw play up and down the field, with a number of mishandles frustrating the Burton side. Scrums were becoming a feature of the play, and the Burton forwards caused Burntwood severe problems both at scrum down and during the many rucks that developed. Burntwood finally managed to break forward, only to be well tackled by Turner. Michael Cooke received from Sandeman, and the Burton forwards drove a maul towards the halfway line.
Once the ball was out, Sandeman again ran, this time into contact. Once the ball came free, Tom Bunting sent Turner wide. Turner and Stokes linked well close to the sideline, and were unlucky not to score. Burntwood tried to clear from behind their ruck, but Champney's speed and vision saw him block the kick. Once again the Burton forwards worked as a unit to secure possession, then the backs took over, Turner passing to Champney who powered through a retreating Burntwood defence to score close to the posts.
The conversion kick brought the score to Burton 12, Burntwood 5.

Burntwood pressured Burton well, driving to the Burton fifteen metre line.
Slack followed up a clearance kick to force a lineout on the Burntwood twenty. Despite energetic play by both teams' forwards, Burntwood seemed to have gained the upper hand when their scrum-half neatly poached the ball from a Burton scrum.
With play seemingly established within yards of the Burton try line, both teams showed their determination with exciting play that looked to be leading to a visitors' try. Burton held their nerve, however, and a Burntwood infringement allowed the halftime whistle to come to the rescue.

The second half saw both teams raise their games.
Burton's pack continued to cause trouble in the scrum, but Burntwood were again threatening to score.
Champney made another fine tackle, and the backs swept forward. Following sterling defence by Burntwood, Sam Wardega picked up the ball and rumbled forward, eventually tackled by the entire Burntwood pack.
A penalty was given to Burton following desperate counter-rucking from Burntwood, but the kick attempt sailed wide.
Both teams piled on the pressure, drawing fine performances from stand-ins Henry Andrew and Tom Hunt, both joining in from the Stags match against Tamworth.
Good rugby played by both teams caused play to stall in the centre of the pitch, with neither side being able to make a decisive break.
Finally, a deep kick from Andrew drove Burntwood back, and their counter kick was scooped up by the Burton backs, who passed up and down their line, until Slack was finally bundled out of bounds.
Burntwood won their own lineout, but their clearance kick was short and into touch.
Burton now looked for their chance, taking lineout and scrums well, and forcing a Burntwood penalty. The tap and go led to a dominant Burton back line charging forward, and once the ball had been spun out to Adam Cooke, he made no mistake, lunging past the defender to touch down.
The conversion by Turner put the score at 19 - 5, with only minutes to play.

Burntwood showed once more that they always play to the final whistle, with a strong move from the restart drawing a penalty, which, as the match drew to a close, they successfully kicked.